Photo by Vivint Solar on Unsplash It is good news that the UK should have plenty of sunshine this summer – potentially more than much of southern Europe. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts suggests that June, July and August should each be hotter than average. This should be a great opportunity to harness more solar power:…
Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash The Republic of Moldova is a small faraway country facing many challenges. Today it no longer faces them alone. Economically it is fragile, with its main exports being insulated wire, wheat, wine and sunflower seeds – not the most promising foundation for long-term prosperity. Climate change is also a major issue: in…
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash Today there are rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence, changing the way we work. With an increasing population and a warming climate, technology is also potentially helping how the world feeds itself. Selective breeding of crop varieties as practised in the past can now be accelerated by planned genetic enhancements, replacing the…
Photo by Roger Bradshaw on Unsplash The next General Election in the UK is likely to be at least a year away, but already the two major political parties are moving into overdrive with national conferences and pronouncements from senior party figures. After their successful local Council election results in early May Labour is increasingly occupying the centre…
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash Former UK Prime Ministers Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher had different visions for the country in their very different times, and each left a lasting legacy. Today in France President Macron knows it is important to modernise the outdated pension system and has determined to achieve reform. The French people are not…
Photo by Bogdan Dada on Unsplash The coronation of King Charles III would always be a special moment in history, but future historians may regard an earlier announcement as his “crowning achievement”: the opening of sealed royal archives to reveal details of the monarchy’s historic involvement in the slave trade. This initiative is most welcome. What would now…
Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash Honours lists recognising ordinary people for their extraordinary achievements are traditionally published every New Year and the Monarch’s birthday – a welcome tradition. Less welcome is the list following the departure of a Prime Minister. The imminent publication of Boris Johnson’s and Liz Truss’s lists throws a spotlight on the anachronistic…
Photo by Anastasiia Rozumna on Unsplash Belfast and Bilbao are capital cities of their regions, Northern Ireland and the Basque country respectively. Both share a proud heritage of shipbuilding over centuries, followed by its decline as the world moved on. Over the last sixty years both also suffered the trauma of armed insurrectionists, fighting to impose their particular…
Photo by Lucas Marcomini on Unsplash Finland shares a lengthy and vulnerable border of 1,340 km with Russia. As the only non-NATO EU member with any such frontier it has long been wary of its larger neighbour. This wariness is not just because of present behaviour but because of the past: in 1939 the USSR…
Photo by Sophie Laurent on Unsplash Around 35 years ago Melina Mercouri, then Greek Culture Minister, launched a campaign to return various marble pieces wrenched from the 2,500-year-old Parthenon frieze in the Acropolis. Pope Francis has just returned three fragments which had been in the papal museums since the nineteenth century: the British Museum, holder of the largest…
